Teens Electrocuted While Cleaning Restaurant Highlights Need for Electrical Safety

As Peru mourns the electrocution of two teens while cleaning a McDonald’s restaurant over the weekend, the country’s safety authorities are investigating the circumstances that lead to the deaths, The New York Times reports.

Alexandra Porras Inga, 19, and Gabriel Campos Zapata, 18, died early Sunday while working a night shift at the McDonald’s in central Lima. Inga’s mother said when she arrived at the restaurant after learning of her daughter’s death, she could see wet floors and loose electrical cables. She said her daughter did not appear to be wearing boots, gloves, or other personal protection equipment. Inga’s family believes the young worker was washing the restaurant floor when she hit a loose electrical wire.

However, Business Insider reports the two teens were electrocuted while cleaning a soft drink machine with a loose electrical wire, perhaps while standing on a wet floor. Arcos Dorados, the company that runs McDonald’s in Peru, announced a two-day mourning period in which it would close all its restaurants in the country. The company was cooperating with authorities to uncover exactly what had happened. Representatives with McDonald’s, based in Chicago, said that safety was a “global priority” and that they were examining the matter with Arcos Dorados.

Mark Warner, Cleaning Management Institute (CMI) Education Manager for ISSA, said the electrocution reinforces the need to be extremely conscious of worker safety around electricity.

“Floor cleaning has traditionally involved the use of electric floor machines and electric wet vacs on wet floors. This is why CMI certification programs always stress the use of proper personal protection equipment for the workers, as well as thorough inspection of the equipment cords prior to their use,” Warner said. “Electric cord sheathing damage or missing grounding prongs on the plugs are frequently the reason for electric shock injuries, which can and should be prevented from ever happening. The news of the teenagers’ deaths in Peru is just heart-breaking, and should never, ever be allowed to happen again.”